| Indices to local census returns... |
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Ever wonder why census reports are sometimes less-than-accurate? This job description was purportedly printed in the Genealogical Society of Vermont's magazine, Branches & Twigs: "I am a cencus taker for the city of Bufflow. Our city has groan very fast in recent years and now, in 1865, it has becum a hard and time consooming job to count all the peephill. Thare is not meny that can do this werk, as it is necesarie to have a ejucashun, which a lot of pursons still do not have. Another atribeart needed for this job is good speling, for meny of the peephill to be caounted can hardle speek inglish, let alone spel there name." The editor added with tongue-in-cheek, "Pity the poor reserchers triing to reed the Bufflow centsus rekurds." The earliest tabulations of the residents of Hope Township we've seen are two 1799 reports: one by Elias Smith and the other by Augustus Jones. Phyllis H. White transcribed the Oaths of Allegiance of men of Hope Township for 1801-1806. The Crown Deeds of Hope Township, showing concessions and lot owners... The Hope Township tax assessment rolls indices for 1802-1807, located in the collections of the Trent University Archives (Peterborough, Ontario)... A great deal of gratitude is owed by area researchers to the late Percy Climo of Cobourg, who took it upon himself to create a head-of-household index of the 1803-1851 Hope Township census returns (available in hard copy at both Port Hope and Cobourg public libraries). These records have been transcribed for on-line searching with the kind permission of his great-nephew, Dan Climo. When browsing through them, please keep in mind that the entries were Mr. Climo's interpretation of often-illegible and/or faded entries. I hope I haven't misinterpreted HIS hand-written entries too badly! 1803 1804 1805 1806 1807 1809 1810 1811 1812 1813 1814 1815 1816 1817 1818 1819 1820 1821 1822 1823 1824 1825 1826 1827 1828 1830 1831 1832 1833 1834 1835 1836 1837 1838 1839 1840 1841 1848 1850 1851 Although there are no census returns for 1842-1847, assessment returns, showing concession/lot owners, for those years can be found on Shirley Horner's site. Unfortunately, there isn't an 1851 census available for Port Hope. To our knowledge, the 1847 assessment of the Town of Port Hope, also originally transcribed by Mr. Climo, is the only document we have showing the property owners of Port Hope prior to the official census of 1861. The census for Canada East, Canada West, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, planned for 1851, was not carried out until 1852, so it is variously referred to as the 1851 Census and the 1852 Census. Although incomplete at this time, it can be searched here. Barbara and I have compiled indices for the 1861 Port Hope and 1861 Hope Township returns. These indices are non-alphabetized, as it is often useful to see the neighbours and with whom the strays were living. The page number at the end of each entry indicates where the full listings can be found on the microfilms at the Port Hope Public Library. 
For those indifferent about the location of the neighbours and strays - and as an aid to a quick check of surname spelling variations - we've included the alphabetized versions of the Port Hope and Hope Township returns. Thanks to the amazing efforts of John Allan, Bob Symons, Ken Macpherson and the other tireless volunteers of the Ontario Genealogical Society, the Port Hope and Hope Township returns for the years 1871, 1881 & 1891 are available for on-line searching by surname. There are other sites for some of these census returns. Queen's University Library has the 1871 Ontario census index (heads of household only). The Latter Day Saints provide an on-line search of the 1881 Canada census returns, along with the 1880 US and 1881 British returns. The 1891 census, with images, is also available on-line at Library and Archives Canada. Again, choose the .pdf images. Library and Archives Canada has the complete census returns, with images, on-line for 1901 and 1911, all transcribed by countless dedicated volunteers. We were able to transcribe two Bell Telephone Port Hope directories: the c1898 and 1900 editions. The Port Hope Archives received the 1913 Port Hope assessment roll in the spring of 2009 from the Cobourg & District Historical Society Archives. Thanks to Janet Snelgrove for transcribing it. Courtesy of Don Workman of Port Hope, we have transcribed the entries from the 1920 Hope Township Voters' List. The OntarioGenWeb Official Census Project, begun 01 March 1999, is well worth your consideration. Their intention is to eventually have every Ontario census available for free on-line searching. Those currently completed, including our two, can be found there. Should you wish to make a lasting contribution to this project, your involvement will be very much appreciated by present and future generations!
Peter and Barbara Bolton - Port Hope, Ontario |